


Rescue

by SML8180



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Hank Anderson & Connor Friendship, How Do I Tag, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 11:50:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18031217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SML8180/pseuds/SML8180
Summary: Hank adopted Sumo from an animal rescue when he was just a puppy. After the loss of his son causes his world to crumble around him, he couldn't have guessed that a certain android and old gentle giant would be the ones to rescue him.





	Rescue

Hank could remember the day he adopted Sumo like it was yesterday. Cole was about two years old at the time, and Hank and his wife at the time had found that simply putting on a show involving dogs, or reading to him about them would calm the little boy would always brighten up. He and his wife discussed it, and determined that getting a dog might as well be their next step. Hank himself had grown up with a dog, after all, and if he were being honest, he wanted his son to have that same experience. So, on a Saturday when Hank didn’t have work, the three made their way to a shelter to see if they could find a new addition to their family.

The shelter they went to served as a rescue, one in a network around the country. They had recently gotten in several dogs from a rescue operation a couple of weeks ago. A handful of older dogs were brought in, as well as a number of puppies. Cole had been frightened by the barking of the older dogs as they walked through, and they went back into where the shelter had the puppies, where it was a little quieter. There were four or five puppies in the room, all seeming old enough to be without their mother, but none of them were all that big. Hank set Cole down, holding his hand as the small boy tried to balance on his own. He was starting to walk, but he wasn’t always steady on his feet. A couple of the puppies ran over to the family, jumping and yipping. One came over to Cole, sniffing the little boy and licking his cheek, tail wagging as he made the child giggle. Even when the toddler fell down, the puppy still seemed fixed on the boy.

“I think Cole made a new friend,” Hank chuckled. He knelt down, scratching the puppy’s head and checking the collar. “Sumo, huh? Guess he’ll grow into the name.”

The shelter attendant smiled, “He’s a sweet puppy, especially considering what he’s gone through. The little guy needs a good home.”

Hank smiled and stood, looking to his wife. In the end, she had the final say. She didn’t have much of a choice, watching her son with the Saint Bernard puppy. She simply nodded, bringing a smile to Hank’s face. The man chuckled, filling out the paperwork with the attendant before going back to his family, watching Cole play with Sumo before his wife picked up the boy. The child argued, not wanting to leave yet, but he lit up when Hank lifted Sumo into his arms, explaining that the puppy was coming home with them. After getting what they needed, the family went home, bringing their new addition with them.

Over the next four years, Sumo grew into a loving beast of a dog, and Cole’s protector. Everything seemed perfect then. But, on Cole’s sixth birthday, tragedy struck.

The crash had been bad to say the least. Hank was in bad shape, but nothing compared to his young son. When Cole didn’t make it out of surgery, it was like the world came crumbling down. Hank was released from the hospital, and he and his wife returned home without Sumo’s best friend. For weeks, the dog seemed confused, not knowing where the boy was, or why his bedroom door was always shut. It wasn’t long after that Hank and his wife separated and began to go through a formal divorce. The man lost a lot, in the end, but he found a house, had his old car, and his wife let him take Sumo.

There were nights Hank would come home after drinking, and simply pass out on the couch or his bed, or where he’d be slumped over the table, or on the floor, having fallen out of his chair. When he woke up, Sumo would always be by his side. The days when Hank would load a round into his revolver for Russian Roulette, he’d still have the dog on his mind as he pulled the trigger, and would secretly be thankful when he opened his eyes again to see the Saint Bernard’s hulking form in his bed. He treasured the time he got with Sumo; the dog really was a light in his dark view of life.

Now, after the android revolution, with Connor staying with him, Hank couldn’t help but think of Cole. His son would be nine, now, and he couldn’t stop thinking of how much he’d have gotten along with Connor. They were both curious, loved dogs, and Hank cared about Connor as if he were his son. If anything, Hank could see Connor as the man Cole could have grown up to be, had he survived. Sumo seemed to have a connection with Connor, as well. The gentle giant had taken to the android quickly, and seemed to have some of his energy back. He was more eager to play and go out for walks than he had been since Cole passed. Day by day, when Hank saw the two in the mornings before work, he found that his mood would brighten up a bit more. It got to a point where he was honestly considering he hadn’t just rescued Sumo back then. Sumo, along with Connor, had rescued him, in return.


End file.
